F 1 
.N478 
Copy 2 




^resilienf s atiDresei to tt)e Council 



OF THE 



NEW- ENGLAND 



Historic Genealogical Society 



14 JANUARY, 1889 



^rcjsiiDcnrjS 9[DDrc)2J)2J to ti^e Council 

OF THE 

new-england 
Historic Genealogical Society 

14 JANUARY, 1889 



^rejJiDent'iS StitircjSjs to tl)c Council 



NEW-ENGLAND 



Historic Genealogical Society 



14 JANUARY, 1889 



'juie 




BOSTON 
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY 



M.DCCC.XCII 



'W.-..: 2, 






IN EXCHANGB 



John Wilson and Son, Cambridgi 



NOTE. 

By a vote of the Council, passed 11 February, 1889, the Address 
of the President, to the Council, upon the reorganization of the Society 
under the new By-Laws, was referred to the Committee on Printing 
and Stationery, with full powers ; but at the request of the President, 
who expected that the Committee on Donations would complete his 
account of the P\inds and Cabinet of the Societ}', the printing has 
been deferred from time to time. 

No such report, however, having 3'et been presented by the Com- 
mittee on Donations, and the facts set forth in the Address having 
been collected with considerable labor, it is now laid before ever}' 
member of the Society, since it is important that its statements should 
be preserved, in a convenient form, for future reference. 

HENRY H. EDES, 
BENJAMIN A. GOULD, 

Committee on Printing and Stationery. 

Boston, May, 1892. 



OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY 

For the Year 1889. 



Presitient. 

ABNER CHENEY GOODELL, Jr., A.M., of Salem, Massachusetts. 

UlC£#T£0itimt0. 
WILLIAM ENDICOTT, Jr., A.M., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
JOSEPH WILLIAMSON, A.M., of Belfast, Mauie. 
JOSEPH BURBEEN WALKER, A.B., of Concord, New Hampshire. 
JAMES BARRETT, LL.D., of Rutland, Vermont. 
WILLIAM GAMMELL, LL.D., of Providence, Rhode Island. 
EDWIN H. BUGBEE, of Killingly, Connecticut. 

Eecartitifl SectEtatg. 

DAVID GREENE HASKINS, Jr., A.M., of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Cotrespontiins SectEtatg. 

FRANCIS HENRY BROWN, M.D., of Boston, Massachusetts. 

STreasuvet. 

BENJAMIN BARSTOW TORREY, of Boston, Massachusetts. 

3Libi-avian. 

JOHN WARD DEAN, A.M., of Medford, Massachusetts. 

Ci^e CounciL 

Ex Officiis. 
AT^MFR r roODELL Tr am. WILLIAM ENDICOTT, JR., A.M. 

f^^^0^^^^^l):i^^^,^^.^^-^- FRANCIS HENRY BROWN. M.D. 
BENJAMIN BARSTOW TORREY. JOHN WARD DEAN, A.M. 

Term Expires 1892. 
ANDREW PRESTON PEABODY, D.D., LL.D., of Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
HAMILTON ANDREWS HILL, A.M., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
ROBERT CHARLES WINTHROP, Jr., A.M., of Boston, Massachusetts. 

Term Expires 1891. 
WILLIAM CLAFLIN, LL.D., of Newton, Massachusetts. 
HENRY AUSTIN WHITNEY, A.M., of Milton, Massachusetts. 
JOHN TYLER HASSAM, A.M., of Boston, Massachusetts. 

Term Expires 1890. 
WILLIAM BLAKE TRASK, A.M., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
GRENVILLE HOWLAND NORCROSS, LL.B., of Boston, Massachusetts. 
FRANK ELIOT BRADISH, A.B., of Boston, Massachusetts. 



PRESIDENT'S 
ADDRESS TO THE COUNCIL. 

14 January, 1889. 



Gentlemen of the Council : 

At the outset of a new departure in the career of our 
Society a review of the main events in our progress to 
this time would seem to be desirable even for those 
who have been intimately concerned in its management 
hitherto, and doubly proper for those of us who now for 
the first time assume a share of the responsibility of 
directing its affairs. 

I shall not therefore apologize for calling your atten- 
tion to the pecuniary and numerical growth and condi- 
tion of this institution before I proceed to point out the 
changes which have been effected in our organization by 
the adoption of a new code of by-laws, and the steps 
which, in pursuance of my official duty, 1 feel constrained 
to recommend to you as necessary to be taken by this 
board in order to execute the will of the Society as ex- 
pressed in the new code. On this head, however, I shall 
be brief. 

Starting a little more than forty-four years ago as a ^.^^^^^ ^^ 
voluntary association of five gentlemen " interested in the Society 
genealogical inquiries and in family history," for the 
sole and express object of collecting and preserving " the 
Genealogy and History of early New England Families," 
this little company, together with a few associates subse- 
quently admitted, was incorporated, four months later, 



10 

under the name originally adopted by the association and 
which our Society still bears, for a purpose slightly en- 
larged from the professed object of the founders ; namely, 
" of collecting, preserving, and occasionally publishing 
genealogical and historical matter relating to early New 
England families, and for the establishment and main- 
tenance of a cabinet." 

In this corporate form it has continued to grow with- 
out any change in its organic law (except such as has 
been effected by two acts enabling it to hold additional 
property, real and personal) until to-day it embraces a 
resident membership of more than seven hundred and 
fifty persons (including three hundred and fifteen life 
members) besides two hundred and fifty corresponding 
members in this and foreign countries. 

— its finan- The financial growth of the Society has kept pace with 
tiMeTr ^ its numerical expansion. For the first year of our cor- 
porate existence the Treasurer's cash accounts show a 
total of $110 received, and an expense account of $86.03. 
The next year the receipts, including sundry cash dona- 
tions, were $200.97, and the expenses $187.64. Passing 
over an interval of ten years or more, we find the ex- 
penses, in 1857, more than doubled, or $382.01. The 
next year the expenses amounted to $604.44, and in the 
year following (1859) to $767.04 (including an "old 
debt" of $158), and again in 1861, to $873.68, includ- 
ing $180, which had been received from six life members 
in commutation of their annual assessments and had 
been improvidently applied to current expenses, but which 
was now recovered and made the foundation of the Life- 
membership Fund, of which I shall say more hereafter. 

— to 1871; A leap through another decade brings us to 1871, for 

which year we find the expense account again more than 
doubled ; or a total of $1,634.70, against an income, from 
admission fees and assessments and from the Life Fund, 
of $1,656.02 ; indicating a total paying membership of 
between five hundred and six hundred. Another decade 



n 

passed, and the reports for the year 1881 show the ex- —to 1881; 

pense account again more than doubled ; or $3,411.69 

against an income from all sources (except from the 

Register), for the year, of $3,409.65. The increase of 

receipts and expenses from this last date has not been 

such as to warrant the belief that this geometrical ratio 

is to continue, although the corresponding income for the 

past year has increased, in round numbers, to nearly —to 1889. 

$4,500. 

You may have noticed that from the accounts of 1881 The 

. Register: 

I made special exception of the receipts and expenses on 
account of the New England Historical and Genealogical 
Register, and you probably have observed that the finan- 
cial business of this publication appeared, for the first 
time, in the Treasurer's annual report of 1887. This 
may have led some of you to infer that the old arrange- 
ment, by which all pecuniary responsibility for the publi- 
cation of our valuable quarterly was assumed by a club 
voluntarily organized with the consent of the Society, 
had continued up to the year preceding that report. 
This, however, is not the case. The Register club was —owned by 
dissolved by mutual agreement in the autumn of 1874, '^ "^^^ ^' 
since which time the financial responsibility for the 
publication of the Register has devolved wholly upon the 
Society. It is due to our vigilant Treasurer to say that 
he has invariably held that the important fiscal transac- 
tions pertaining to this branch of the Society's business 
should appear in his books and be sliown in the annual 
statement ; but the complications of that business, and 
other obstacles which he encountered, were so formidable 
that, to surmount them, required some considerable per- 
sistency, and an amount of labor which he could not be- 
stow in one continuous effort. I am happy to report —its 
that he has now succeeded in reducing the business to a and earnings 
system, and, beginning with the year 1886, his books con- f^JJ^^y^Jhe 
tain all the entries necessary to a proper understanding Treasurer. 
of the Society's receipts and payments on account of the 



12 

Register. The balance of this account appears not to be 
large either way, at present ; but I think the whole sub- 
ject worthy of the special attention of the Council, and I 
shall make some recommendation relative to it. 

Total income While the income for general purposes, exclusive of a 
donation of $250 from Dr. Tarbox, the year last past, 
is 84,314.66, including interest on moneys raised by con- 
tribution for specific purposes but not yet applied, and 
the profit from investment of funds not devoted to spe- 
cific objects, we have derived other income from funds 
given for the promotion of specific objects which swells 
the total receipts to $5,249.47, — only about one third of 
whicli is derived from admission fees, annual assessments, 
and income of the Life-membership Fund. 

History of ^ The growth of these funds (which to-day amount to a 

funds. total of nearly 870,000) I deem sufficiently interesting 

to warrant my dwelling upon it here. Almost from the 
beginning, small donations appear from time to time 
entered in the Treasurer's books ; thus, in 1845, I find a 
gift to the Society of $5 ; and in 1846, a threatened 
deficiency of $65 was avoided by contributions to that 
amount among the members. In 1847, $38 appear to 
have been contributed as a donation ; in 1850, $3 ; in 
1851, $91.70 ; in 1852, $10 ; in 1855, $73 ; and, in 
1857, $20, — making a total, for the first fourteen 
years, of $305.70, if I have read the record correctly. 

Bond Fund. In the year 1859 the Society received a testamentary 
gift, from Dr. Henry Bond, of Philadelphia, of eight hun- 
dred copies, in sheets, of his work entitled " Genealo- 
gies and History of Watertown," together with other 
manuscripts and printed matter. I have not been able 
to find any record which shows that this legacy was in 
any manner qualified. It has always been treated as 
an unconditional gift, and was set apart as a fund by 
a vote of the Society, according to which the income of 
the proceeds of the sales of these sheets bound into 
volumes is to be applied one eighth to increasing the 



10 
O 

fund, and the remainder to the purchase of books of 
local history and genealogy, reserving a sufficient amount 
to defray the expense of binding and preserving the 
manuscripts bequeathed to the Society by the testator. 

This fund now amounts to $868.46 in money ; besides 
which we have seven hundred or eight hundred of the 
volumes remaining in sheets, from which, unfortunately, 
some fourteen signatures (or 224 sheets) are said to have 
been lost or destroyed, either during their removal to this 
house, or since they were placed in the cellar. I have a 
proposal from a competent printer to supply these miss- 
ing sheets, and to bind the whole, at an expense not ex- 
ceeding the amount on hand belonging to the fund ; and 
since the book is now rare, and is in demand at the price 
of $9 or 110 per copy, I recommend that you authorize 
the completion and sale of these volumes, which, at one 
half the price I have named, would increase the fund to 
between |3,000 and $4,000.i 

This legacy in point of time was the first of the series 
of funds from which the Society derives income which it 
applies to particular uses. 

Next comes the Barstow Fund. This originated in Bamow 
September, 1860, in a gift from John Barstow, of 
Providence, K. I., a former vice-president of the So- 
ciety, of two shares of the Boston and Providence Rail- 
road Company of the par value of $100 each, from 
the sale of which we realized |400. A further donation 
in May, 1862, of $300 cash, and still another of $500 
cash, in March, 1863, both from the same source, brought 
the fund up to $1,200, the amount at which it still stands 
on our books. I have not been able to find any record 
of the form of this gift ; but I presume that it was uncon- 
ditional, since it was funded by the vote or acquiescence 
of the Society, and the income devoted to the binding of 
books. 

1 On clearing the cellar, in 1889, the missing signatures were found, by 
which the expense of making up the edition is greatly lessened. 



Fund. 



14 



Towne 

Memorial 

Fund. 



Trustees : 
— legislation 
desirable. 



The Towne Memorial Fund, wliicli comes next in 
chronological order, was established by the late William 
B. Towne, who was for some time Treasurer, and long 
an active and zealous member of our Society. On the 
6th of January, 1864, he gave to the Society the sum' 
of $1,000, in accordance with a previous promise, con- 
ditioned upon the raising of an equal amount, during 
the year 1863, by the payment of fees for life-member- 
ship, — which by a vote of the Society, Oct. 3, 1855, 
had been fixed at $50, and reduced to $30 by another 
vote four years later. The tender of this gift was made 
in a letter to the Corresponding Secretary, dated Dec. 
31, 1863, in which the wish is expressed that the 
amount be placed "in the hands of trustees, and kept 
separate and apart from the ordinary receipts of the 
Society, and thereby made a permanent fund, the income 
thereof to be used for the preservation of memoirs of 
deceased members." To this fund, which was accepted 
by a vote of the Society upon the terms proposed by 
the donor, another $1,000 was added by the founder, 
March 18, 1870. By the addition of accumulated income 
to the principal, this fund once reached nearly the sum 
of $5,000. From this it has shrunk at the present time 
to $4,539.68, after defraying the cost of five volumes of 
the Memorial Biographies of Deceased Members, printed 
in accordance with the design of the founder. 

Assuming the wish of Mr. Towne, as expressed in the 
letter to which I have referred, to be tantamount to a posi- 
tive direction or injunction, which I think is a fair legal 
interpretation of the instrument, tlie appointment of trus- 
tees to succeed those who were originally appointed with 
the approbation of the founder, would seem to rest with the 
courts. There is, at least, a doubt of the donor's inten- 
tion to leave this matter wholly at the discretion of the 
Society, without supervision. I therefore recommend 
tills subject to your attention, and suggest that it might 
perhaps be well to apply to the Legislature for an Act to 



15 

enable the Finance Committee, together with the Treas- 
urer, and tlieir successors in office, to hold, as trustees, this 
or any other fund given in trust for the benefit of the 
Society, upon the death of the original trustees, or upon 
their resignation, and with their consent and the consent 
of the Society. By this means all the property held for 
the Society's use will be made to appear on the Treas- 
urer's books of account. I will add, in passing, that this 
fund and the Kidder fund, to which I shall refer again, 
are the only funds which are not clearly to be held and 
managed by the Society, immediately, without the inter- 
vention of trustees. 

Some time in the year 1864 (I have not been able to Cushman 
ascertain precisely when), the Society received as a "" ' 
legacy from the late Hon. Henry W. Cushman, of 
Bernardston in this State, the remainder of an edition of 
the Cushman Genealogy prepared by him and published 
at his expense. This bequest was coupled with conditions 
as to arranging and preserving certain memorials, and as 
to indexing, etc., which I think have not been complied 
with ; at least, I have received no definite information on 
that point from the Librarian. These books from time to 
time have been turned into cash, — the amount of the 
fund, by the Treasurer's last report, being $120.71. 

Next in order, comes the Bradbury Fund. In March, Bradbury 
1876, our late associate John M. Bradbury, of Ipswich, 
bequeathed to us $2,000, in cash, I am informed, and 
twenty-five shares in the corporate stock of the Austin 
City Water Co., in the State of Nevada, of the par value 
of 8500 each, which the Treasurer estimates is now a 
fair valuation of tlie whole twenty-five shares. This con- 
stitutes the principal of this fund of $2,500, the income of 
which has been applied to the general expense account, 
but whether by the will of the testator or by order of 
the Directors, can only be certainly ascertained by in- 
spection of the original will or of an authentic copy. 

The Sever Fund was founded by Mrs. Anne Elizabeth Sever Fund 



16 

Parsons Sever, widow of the late Col. James Warren 
Sever, of this city, a former member of our Society. 
She bequeathed to this Society 15,000, for the purchase of 
books, it is said, for our library. This money was paid 
into the treasury, Oct. 8, 1878 ; and the income has 
been applied according to what is understood to be the 
will of the testatrix. 
Alden Fund. Qn the 7th of June, 1881, the executor of the last will 
of the late Ebenezer Alden, M.D., of Randolph, in this 
State, enclosed to the Treasurer of this Society a check 
for $1,000, dated June 8, 1881, as a bequest from the 
testator, to constitute "a permanent fund, to be safely 
invested, the income to be expended for the benefit of 
the library, especially in preparing catalogues." This 
bequest was accepted according to its terms ; and the 
principal of the fund remains intact, though the income 
appears to have gone into the general income account, 
instead of being applied to the specific purpose indicated 
by the testator. I presume this was done by authority 
of the Board of Directors, but for what reason I am 
unable to say, — perhaps with the design of ultimately ap- 
propriating it to the expense of cataloguing, which ex- 
pense thus far has not been formally distinguished from 
the ordinary incidental expenses of the Society. 
Russell Fund. The Russell Fund was established in 1883, under the 
will of Mary W., wife of Mr. Edward Russell, of Boston. 
The testatrix died March 28, 1875 ; but there being an 
intervening beneficiary for life, our Society did not re- 
ceive the legacy until Aug. 2, 1883, after the termination 
of this life interest, when the husband and executor 
paid into our treasury -13,000, *' to constitute," according 
to the terms of the will, " a fund, the income of which 
to be used for the purchase of Englisli county histories 
and genealogies for the library of the Society." This 
fund still remains at $3,000 ; and the income has been 
applied from time to time, in accordance with the will of 
the testatrix. 



The Latham Fund dates from 1884, The executor of Latham 
the last will of Williams Latham, late of Bridgewater, in "" 
this State, in a letter dated May 13 of that year, com- 
municated to the Treasurer of the Society the information 
that his testator had bequeathed to us $1,000, "to be 
kept as a permanent fund, and the income thereof to be 
applied as said Society may determine ; also my pamph- 
lets, bound and unbound." Some time subsequently 
during the year, this legacy was paid over, and still con- 
tinues of the original amount, and the income has gone 
into the general account. 

The three funds last enumerated, I have been enabled 
to describe definitely by the courtesy of the Treasurer, 
who since 1876, when he came into full authority in his 
office, has kept, convenient for referepce, the original 
correspondence and other papers relating to the moneys 
that liave come to his hands. 

This concludes the list of funds derived from single 
benefactors, and immediately possessed by the Society. 
There yet remains another bequest, which is held by 
trustees appointed by the testator, and not by the So- 
ciety : I mean the Kidder Fund, to which I have already Ki^jfj^i. 
referred, which was bequeathed, in trust, for our benefit, ^""'^• 
to three trustees, by our late associate Mr. Frederic 
Kidder, of Melrose. The principal of this fund consists 
of five shares of the Cabot Manufacturing Company, of 
the par value of 8500 each ; and though the legal title 
and the exclusive management of the trust resides in the 
trustees, the actual custody of the funds has been con- 
fided to the Treasurer, who attends to the collection of 
the dividends. The fund was established for the pur- 
chasing, for our library, by the trustees, of books upon 
English and American history, biography, and genealogy, 
to be always kept within the library. 

You will have inferred from what I have said that I 
have not gathered all the important facts relating to the 
endowments witli which our Society has been favored, 
3 



18 

and that I have had some difficulty, even, in discovering 
wliat I have exhibited here. 
Terms of I need not, therefore, urge upon you the propriety of 

ought to be having the exact language of every instrument under 
known : which we receive benefactions, whether in trust or other- 

wise, evidenced by transcripts and vouchers duly authen- 
ticated, and methodically and accurately recorded in a 
book or books kept for the purpose ; and that this system 
be applied to past as well as future transactions. 
— committee A Committee, I think, should take this matter in hand, 
purpose. and complete, by reference to the proper sources of in- 

formation, the imperfect sketch I have here prepared ; 
and to such a committee I promise to give all the 
information at my command. This committee's report 
should be printed with our proceedings, so as to in- 
form every member of the Society of the condition of our 
funds. 
Other funds. There remain three other considerable funds, upon a 
foundation quite different from those I have just de- 
Life-member- scribed. The oldest of these is the Life-membership 
s p un . ^m^(j^ Qf i\^Q origin of which I have already given an 
account. This fund now amounts to $11,367.74, and 
the income derived from it last year was $105. It 
was a wise policy which directed the setting apart of the 
sums paid in commutation of annual dues, and investing 
them for a permanent income. 
Ohi Building * I" 1870 and 1871, through the exertions of my prede- 
"^""^' cessor, ably seconded by his friend Mr. George B. Upton, 

and by our late associate the founder of the Towne Memo- 
rial Fund, and others, subscriptions to the amount of nearly 
$45,000 were procured for the erection and fitting up 
of this building. This amount, except a trifling balance, 
was expended for the purpose for which it was sub- 
scribed ; and at the annual meeting of 1872 it was 
resolved to start another subscription, " to establish a 
Librarian fund the income of which to be appropriated to the 
payment of a salary of a librarian, and to such otlier 



19 

purposes as may be necessary for the efficiency and 
prosperity of the Society." 

Accordingly, the same book in which subscriptions 
had been entered to the Building Fund was used for a 
new subscription, which, I understand, was started with- 
out a heading (that being subsequently written in), but 
with the understanding that it was for the general pur- 
pose declared at the annual meeting. This fund now 
amounts to $12,763.13 ; and the income derived from it —present 

amount; 

last year, and which was placed to the general expense 

account, was $877.04. Good faith with the contributors —ought 

to this fund requires that it should remain a permanent inveltedV 

investment ; but the large discretion which the Society 

enjoys in the emploj^ment of the income justifies our —income 

continuance of the practice hitherto followed of using used. 

it for the general expenses. 

The last fund which I present to your notice is ^'<^w 

■r. ., T -n , . 1 Building 

the present Buildnig Fund, which now amounts to Fund : 

$24,930.39. This was procured by subscription from 
numerous contributors, chiefly during the year 1885. I 
have not been shown the subscription paper ; ^ but it has 
been generally understood that the purpose of these con- —object of 
tributions was to enable this Society to obtain more com- 
modious quarters, either on this site or elsewhere. At first 
the late Board of Directors were inclined to favor the ex- 
tension of our present house, or the purchase of the prop- 

1 Its heading is as follows : — 

NEW-ENGLAND HISTORIC GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY. 

subsckiption for the 

Enlargement of the Society's Hoctse, and other Expenses. 

Boston, May 15, 1884. 
The rapid growth of tiiis Society, the great increase in the number of 
its books and historical documents, amounting to nearly twenty thousand 
bound volumes and sixty thousand pamphlets, in all nearly eigiity thou- 
sand, imperatively demand the immediate enlargement of our book ac- 
commodation. The proposed enlargement will nearly double its present 
capacity, and will cost, it is estimated, twenty thousand dollars. 

We, the undersigneil, therefore agree to pay to the Treasurer of this 
Society, for the said enlargement, tlie following sums set by us against 
our respective names. 



20 



— doubt 
about 
enlarging 
the present 
liouse. 



erty adjoining on tlie south ; but after purchasing the 
stables in the rear, at an expense of |3,500, it was deemed 
best not to decide in favor of the present location until 
the effect which the erection of the new Court House 
would have upon our real estate could be ascertained. 

A reference to the halt to which we were thus brought 
in the matter of increasing our accommodations was 
made by my predecessor in his posthumous address ; and 
since then no serious determination to enlarge the pres- 
ent building has been evinced by the Directors. This 
money, therefore, remains unemployed for the purpose 
for which it was raised. Seeing that it was drawing a 
very low rate of interest at the bank where it was de- 
posited, I represented to the Directors the propriety of 
investing this fund where it would give us better returns. 
This course, which had been repeatedly recommended by 
the Treasurer before I held this chair, was agreed to by 
the Directors ; and $20,000 of the amount was invested 
by a special committee, in the debenture bonds and 
mortgages of the Showalter Mortgage Co., — $10,000 in 
each, at six and seven per cent, respectively. 
— income The income from this investment, and from the in- 

iiow applied, ^gg^g^j balance deposited at small interest (which to- 
gether constitute what is known as the Building 
Fund^), has been applied, as 1 stated in my annual 
address, " to the general purposes of the Society under a 
liberal interpretation of the intention of the donors, 
which has been construed to warrant any necessary 
outlay for the better arrangement and preservation of 
our library and cabinets, which are confessedly the only 
purposes for which a new building or the enlargement of 
our present house is required." 

While I should not hesitate to use the income of this 

fund for any legitimate purpose of the Society, I deem it 

particularly applicable to such repairs and alterations of 

our real estate, and to tlie rent of such premises tempo- 

1 Since known as the Wilder Subscription Building Fund. 



21 

rarily occupied by us under lease, as may be necessary 
for our better accommodation so long as the question as 
to the purchase or erection of a new building or the 
extension of this house remains undetermined. Indeed 
it would be perfectly proper to apply any part of the 
principal to either of these objects. Until the expendi- 
ture of all the income from this fund is demanded by 
our necessities, however, I recommend that a certain 
proportion of the income be regularly added to the prin- 
cipal, to keep the original amount of the subscription 
good against possible loss or depreciations in the securi- 
ties, or reduction of the premiums on reinvestment. 

I find that the rule has not been invariably observed Other do- 
to fund donations received without condition, though I be funded : 
have not been able to ascertain the reason for this dis- 
crimination. I have already spoken of several small 
donations received by the Society, to the year 1859. I 
find, since that time, several other donations, either of 
money or of property to be converted into money, of 
more considerable amounts, which appear to have gone 
into the current-expense account. Thus, in 1863, Rev. 
John A. Vinton appears to have given the Society four —Vinton's 

leffacy. 

hundred volumes which were " not to be sold for two 
years." I have not been able to ascertain the precise 
terms of this donation, nor whether or not the books 
have been sold, or, if sold, what has been done with the 
proceeds, or, indeed, whether the books have or have not 
actually come into our possession. Eight other money — otiier 
gifts (including one of $500 and another of $300, in a legacies. 
total of $1,305.19) appear either in the records of the pro- —total. 
ceedings of the Society, the Directors' records, or in the 
Treasurer's books. All these seem to have gone into 
the general expense account. It may be worth your 
while to consider tlie propriety of recovering these 
amounts and turning them into a general fund, to be 
kept open for increase by future similar gifts, thus serv- 
ing to perpetuate the names of our benefactors, as well 



22 



Our 
investments. 



Money on 
deposit : 



— to be 
invested. 



Better 
accommo- 
dations 
required. 



Uelief liow 
obtained for 
tlie present. 



Cost of 
enlarging 
tlie cellar, 
etc. 



as to show the extent of their bounty, and to prevent any 
mistake as to the amount of our ordinary revenues, to 
which these do not properly belong. 

As a rule, I believe our investments are safe and un- 
usually profitable, — none of them, except our stables in the 
rear of this house, and $3,000 in the bonds of the New Eng- 
land Mortgage Security Co. (which pays five per cent), 
bringing less than six per cent. Of our uninvested money, 
$3,982.59 are in four savings-banks, and $6,938.08 are 
on deposit in four national banks. I suppose these 
deposits might be safely invested, so that together with 
the amount invested at five per cent (which could be 
reinvested) the new investments would add about $500 to 
our annual income. There is, however, no urgent occa- 
sion for acting in this business, which I lay before you 
for your deliberate consideration, and for your action some 
time in the future, recommending that the security of our 
investments be sought, rather than large returns of profit. 

The need of increased accommodations for our library 
and our cabinets, and for the general work of the Society, 
is extremely urgent ; but I have no doubt that by a 
thorough sifting of our collection of books, pamphlets, 
and newspapers, we shall be able to exclude much 
material which is not pertinent to the objects which we 
were incorporated to promote, and that, by a judicious 
rearrangement and extension of our shelving, and the 
improvement of our cellar, including the excavating of 
the earth enclosed between the foundations of our L, 
or safe, we shall have ample space for the convenient 
arrangement of our library, and for its accumulations for 
at least five years to come. 

I have taken pains to ascertain the probable cost of 
the excavation I have referred to, and the masonry 
necessary to complete a room in our cellar absolutely 
fire-proof and of the size of our present safe, and I have 
found that it will not exceed $500. To this another 
$150 should be added for shelving, hanging a fire-proof 



23 

door, and gas-fitting, and for building a brick parti- 
tion-wall so as to exclude the dust and danger of fire 
from the furnace, in a part of the cellar which has 
hitherto been packed with boxes, pamphlets, unbound 
sheets of Bond's Watertown, and other valuable publica- 
tions, which have been literally buried in, and much 
damaged by, dust and ashes. Upon the completion of 
the two rooms thus obtained, we shall have so enlarged 
our accommodations under this roof that we shall no 
longer need to pay the rent of the room in Pemberton 
Square, which we felt forced to hire on a two years' 
lease, as a receptacle for the overflow of our collection of 
miscellaneous books, pamphlets, newspapers, and manu- 
scripts. It has been suggested that perhaps these sub- 
terranean Quarters would be too damp for auy useful No fear of 

. . dampness 

purpose ; but I am satisfied that this fear is entirely 
groundless. The committee charged with the duty of 
removing the deposits in the cellar to the room in Pem- 
berton Square have assured me that the cellar is as dry, 
at all seasons of the year, as any other part of the build- 
ing. Indeed, they found the loose papers which for 
some years had been accumulating on the cellar floor to 
the depth of several inches, as dry at the bottom as at 
the top ; and as this rubbish extended over all the sur- 
face of that portion of the cellar which I recommend 
should be parted off from the furnace-room proper, we 
have every reason to believe that no danger need be ap- 
prehended from dampness. By the proposed excavation, 
the present cellar will have au air space beyond its 
western wall instead of a bank of earth as now ; and the 
rear wall of our building, which will be the western wall 
of the new compartment, already extends below the level 
of the proposed excavation, as a bank wall, forming the 
eastern side of our stable. It is therefore a wall above 
ground, and no more liable to cause condensation of 
moisture than either of the walls of our house, which are 
also of brick and rather more exposed to the weather. I 



24 



The 
foundation 



— liow 
inspected. 



predict that the temperature of tliis vault or fire-proof 

will be very uniform throughout the j'^ear ; and since it is 

on the side of a hill composed of gravel or clayey drift 

through which the water readily percolates to a lower 

level, will be quite as dry as oiu' cellar and the other 

cellars and basements in the neighborhood, which I am 

informed are remarkably free from damp. 

The foundation of the wall of the L, so far as can be 

judged by outward inspection, is excellent — long granite 

stringers, placed lengtliwise, supporting the brick work, 

which extends four or five feet beneath the level of the 

yard ; and in the centre of the wall a brick arch, now 

filled in, enables the workmen to pierce the wall with 

safety for the removal of the earth, thus avoiding the 

necessity of wheeling it through the cellar, I have 

caused this part of the foundation to be exposed for your 

inspection, by a trench dug at a right angle to the wall. 

To protect this trench from the wash of the rain, and 

from the snow, which usually is pretty deep at this sea- 

— preparation gpn of the vear, I caused a shed to be built over it, an- 
made. 

ticipating your approval of this stretch of authority, 

which can do no harm since the structure is not a fixture 
and does not involve any injury to our building ; and if 
you do not approve of it, it can be removed at my ex- 
pense. I invite you to examine the exposed foundations ; 
and if you concur with me in the desirability of the 
proposed alterations, I would recommend that you take 
steps, as early as possible, to liave the work begun while 
contractors are not at their busiest, seeing that this 
work will not be delayed by any condition of weather, 
and could probably be done during the winter for consid- 
erably less than during the warm weather. For this I 
recommend tlie appropriation of f500 out of the princi- 
pal of our Building Fund. 

Since the work of reducing our collection for the li- 
brary and calunet involves the necessity of first ascertain- 
ing the luimber and nature of the l)ooks, pamphlets, news- 



— expense 
liow defrayed 



Committees 
on library 
and cabinet : 



what shall be 
excluded. 



25 

papers, and articles belonging to the cabinets, etc., which 
we actually possess, I would recommend an apportion- 
ment of the labor among several committees. It seems to — to report 
me proper that a committee should be charged with the newspapers, 
duty of reporting to the Council, lists, in full detail, of recommend 
the periodicals and newspapers belonging to the Society, 
with a recommendation as to which of them should be 
preserved as part of our library or cabinet, and which 
of them should be excluded ; and what disposition 
should be made of the latter. This work is sufficiently 
onerous for one committee, and therefore I would re- 
commend that another committee have charge, in like Another 
manner, of the subject of bound books and pamphlets on books, 
not published periodically, broadsides, engravings, and ^^'^' 
manuscripts. 

Upon the report of these committees, respectively, the Council to 
Council can further commit to them the business of rer-o't of 
assorting, binding, or otherwise putting together such of eommittees. 
these books, etc., as shall be deemed worthy of preserva- 
tion and as are in need of such treatment. 

From the reports of these committees, the Council Rules to he 
will be enabled to deduce reasonable and practical rules for^the'' 
for the admission and exclusion of books, which will be ^"'^'"■<^- 
a permanent guide to the standing committee on the 
Library, if such a committee should be appointed. 

I surmise that the labor of searching out and bringing The cabinet: 
together the disjecta membra of the cabinet and the 
preparation of a complete list of the donations we have 
received in other things than money and securities will 
give ample employment to one committee. The report — committee, 
of such a committee if exhaustive, as it should be, will 
doubtless prove of the greatest interest, and will lead to 
further action, perhaps, in regard to the donations of 
Messrs. Vinton, Cushman, Bond, and others, — the state 
of wiiich is obscure, both in relation to the terms of the 
gifts, and our compliance therewith, and the action tliat 
has been taken by the Society towards putting them 
4 



26 

to profitable use. I therefore recommend tliis further 
division of duty. 

I have thus laid before you, broadly, the condition of 

this Society, making only such recommendations as 

seemed pertinent to the subjects most important to be 

promptly attended to in the general management of its 

affairs, or which I thought it more convenient to make 

on certain subjects while they were before us, than to 

recur to them later. 

Express By the By-Laws certain duties are expressly imposed 

duties'of'the upon the Council ; whereas others, more numerous and 

Council. equally necessary, are implied in the general authority 

conferred upon the board. 
Appointment By Chap. IV. Art. 2, of the By-Laws we are required to 
ographer" appoint, annually, a Historiographer and an Editor of 
Publications. The former of these officers has hereto- 
fore been chosen by the general vote of the Society ; and 
we have been fortunate in having that office ably filled 
by our late lamented associate Rev. Dr. Tarbox. 

The appointment of a worthy successor has been to 
me a subject of no little solicitude ; and feeling sure of 
your approval, I took the liberty to invite our associate 
— Mr. Hill Mr. Hamilton A. Hill to allow me to propose his name 
mended. ^^ you for the vacancy. He was then holding the post 
of Corresponding Secretary, which office he had conducted 
with conspicuous industry and ability ; and I trust his 
accession to this board will not be deemed a circum- 
stance affecting his eligibility to a place for which I 
think you will agree with me he is pre-eminently qualified. 
The propriety of filling this vacancy soon must be ap- 
parent to all, and I beg you will not hold me censurable 
for the course I have pursued, which I admit was pre- 
sumptuous. While, unless otherwise ordered, the Presi- 
dent is required to nominate all committees, I do not 
understand that he has the like authority with other 
officers. I disclaim the idea that my action in this 



27 

matter is a valid precedent, and only defend it on tbe 
score of urgency. I have promised, as a condition of 
his acceptance of this post, that a committee shall be 
appointed to aid Mr. Hill in collecting materials for the 
delicate and comparatively laborious work he has under- 
taken, and which is now considerably in arrears. 

I come now to the second officer to be appointed by Editor of 
you. In the report of the committee on revision of the ^Publications : 
By-Laws I find the following paragraph, which I commend 
to your special consideration : — 

"Your Committee have provided also for the appointment 
of an Editor to take charge of all the publications of the 
Societ}', in order to secure uniformity of style and method in 
editorship. They have made this office distinct from that of 
the Librarian, in order that the duties of the two ma}' be 
performed b}^ separate persons, in case at any future time it 
should appear that these combined duties are too onerous for 
one person. Under the new Code, however, it is competent 
for one person to hold both offices, although the accounta- 
bilit}- for the two will be distinct and separate, as it should 
be, when the difference in their functions is considered." 

I have given this subject the most earnest and careful — to be 
consideration, and I cannot avoid the conclusion that from 
the separation of functions provided for by the commit- ''^'■'^™"- 
tee should begin at once. Indeed, so thoroughly am I 
convinced of the wisdom of the policy of starting right, on 
our new career, especially in this particular, that I should 
feel that all hope of keeping up the enthusiasm of reform 
was forever precluded by any other course. 

The consideration which weighs most heavily against Mr. Dean's 
this purpose is the fact that it will be difficult to find a quaUfica- 
successor to the present editor equally well qualified for *'°"* ' 
the duties of that office. Thorouglily equipped as he is 
with an extensive and accurate knowledge of the biblio- 
graphy of the subjects treated of in the Register, and 
familiar as he is with the contents of all the published 
volumes, he, of all men, it seems to me, is best qualified. 



28 



— liis prefer- 
ence for the 
Librarian- 
ship : 



— increased 
labor of that 
office tills 
year: 



— incompati 
bility of the 
two oflBces. 



both ill the respects just mentioned and because of his 
long practice (in this very work) in the art of editing, to 
carry on the publication with gratification to himself, 
with profit to the subscribers, and with credit to the 
Society. Again, no other member of our Society, 
perhaps, has an equally exact and full knowledge of the 
personal history of the members, living and dead, who 
have been or will become the subjects of memorial 
biography in the work which I believe has now 
reached its sixth volume. It was therefore with great 
regret that I learned that Mr. Dean had, after mature 
deliberation, signified his preference for the office of 
Librarian, and that the Nominating Committee had 
presented his name for that office in accordance with his 
expressed wish. Still, he fully understands the purpose 
of the Society to regulate the library according to a 
system which can only be fully developed after the most 
thorough overhauling and minute investigation, which he 
is aware cannot be accomplished without great manual 
labor, that will require the constant supervision or co- 
operation of the Librarian. He is also aware that prob- 
ably during the current year the Librarian will be more 
exercised with perplexing questions and controversies, and 
have more to think of and act upon, than in any previous 
year. Notwithstanding this, he has bravely assumed the 
risk, stipulating for no favors, and no abatement of those 
exactions that would be insisted upon in dealing with any 
other man, the most vigorous and enterprising. 

We have therefore to consider his employment for the 
next year fully assigned in the ofl&ce to which he has 
been elected. I am so thoroughly convinced that he 
could not find time to attend to any other duty, while 
faithfully, steadily, and energetically pursuing the duties 
of Librarian, that I could not consent to proceed a step 
further with the work of reform which is expected of us, 
if, through your indulgence, his willingness to continue 
the arduous duties of Editor should be made a pretext 



29 

for imposing upon him cares and labors beyond his 
strength. He will freely confess to you, doubtless, as he 
has to me, that his late serious illness was due to over- 
work and anxiety ; and I for one should positively refuse 
to assume the consequences of rendering his situation 
doubly burdensome. On this matter I feel very earnest 
and decided, for I know that the librarianship for the 
next year is all the burden that he or any other man 
ought to be expected to bear. The march of improve- 
ment must go on, and it must be attended with all the 
inevitable incidents. No excuse on account of other Duties^ 
duties or employments can possibly be accepted for fail- vigorously 
ure to co-operate cheerfully and with alacrity in the work ^^'' """"'^ ' 
which will all the sooner come to a satisfactory conclu- 
sion, by being harmoniously and vigorously conducted. 

Much, therefore, as I regret Mr. Dean's decision, I 
accept the unwelcome but unavoidable result, tlie ces- 
sation of his editorial labors, with this solace, — that, 
knowing what will be expected of him, I assume he has 
deliberately prepared himself for the encounter, and that 
we shall find him exercising all his executive powers to 
carry out the plans of the Council for promoting the 
usefulness of the library, and for establishing a much- 
needed system for its conduct and growth. 

I therefore recommend that a committee be appointed Committee 

^ , , , , to choose 

to report the name of a competent person to take the Editor. 
office of Editor of Publications, who will manage it with- 
out performing any other function in the service of the 
Society. 

I find that the Editor of the first volume of the Regis- Salary of 
ter received a salary of $1,000, and that in 1857 Mr. ^^■^^'^• 
Drake, then Editor, received $500 for his services that 
year. Since the duties of the new office embrace the 
preparation of all our publications, including the Regis- 
ter, I think there should be no diminution of the salary 
originally allowed to the Editor of the Register ; and I 
therefore recommend that you establish for the new 



30 



Librarian's 
Assistants : 



— should 
be neat 
penmen ; 

— to assist 
tlie Secre- 
taries : 



— committee 
to choose. 



— the Treas- 
urer and His- 
toriograplier 
interested. 



Another plan 
suggested : 
— a general 
clerk to be 
appointed by 
the Council. 



office a salary of $1,000 per annum, to be paid regularly 
in equal monthly instalments. 

By Chap. X. Art. 4, of our By-Laws, provision 
is made for the appointment by the Council of one or 
more assistants to the Librarian. I recommend that 
in the selection of these assistants care be taken that 
in penmanship they be sufficiently neat and expert to 
be of assistance to the Secretaries. The Recording 
Secretary's labors are largely increased by the assign- 
ment to him of the duty of recording the doings of the 
Council. His books are models of neatness and accu- 
racy ; and since he cannot be expected to do all the labor 
of recording, for which, however, he will be solely re- 
sponsible, it is proper that at least one person in the paid 
service of the Society should be able to assist him in the 
mechanical part of his work in a manner satisfactory to 
him and to the Council. This Avill apply also to the 
Corresponding Secretary. I would suggest, therefore, 
that of the committee appointed by you to select a proper 
assistant, the two Secretaries as well as the Librarian 
be members, to act with as many others (if any) as you 
deem it proper to join. The Treasurer and the Historio- 
grapher, both having need of more or less clerical assist- 
ance, are also interested in the matter of this selection ; 
and it might be well, perhaps, to leave the matter with 
those five gentlemen, with the understanding that the 
appointment of such a person by the Council upon their 
recommendation does not release them from responsi- 
bility for the proper performance of their duties in their 
respective departments. I have made this recommenda- 
tion not without some misgiving as to the policy of re- 
quiring any other duty of the Assistant Librarian than 
those prescribed in Chap. X. Art. 4, of the By-Laws. 
I am by no means clear that it would not be the wise 
course to appoint, under the provision of Chap. XIH. 
Art. 8, of the By-Laws, a person with the qualifications 
I have indicated, in which case the appointee could act 



31 

independently of all direction, except of the CouncTl (or 
such officers as the Council should designate), and be 
restricted to such duties as the Council should assign to 
him. In such case it is evident that a committee smaller 
and differently constituted might be intrusted with the 
choice of such a person, — perhaps a standing committee f^^^^^^^^ 

on the selection of subordinate officers to be appointed on subordi- 
nate officers, 
by the Council. 

This whole matter I submit for your present considera- 
tion, and for your action at some future meeting of the 
Council. 

By the first article of Chap. XIII. of the By-Laws the Q'^"™^;;!.! 
Council are required, among other things, first, to " deter- 
mine their own quorum ; " second, to " fix all salaries ; " 
third, to " authorize all expenditures of money, drawing 
upon the Treasurer, from time to time, for such sums as 
may be required;" fourth, to " provide all engraved or 
printed blanks, and books of record." 

The first of these directions you have already complied 
with to-day; and since the Treasurer has some bills 
which are overdue, it may be well to-day to choose a Finance 
committee on accounts, or of Finance, with full authority Committee. 
to approve bills, or report them to the Board, at their 
discretion, so that we may resume payments, which I 
understand have been suspended since the annual meet- 
ing. As to the fourth requirement of this article, it is 
expedient that we lose no time in complying with it. I 
therefore recommend the appointment, forthwith, of a 
committee on Printing and Stationery, whose duty it Coniniittee 
shall be to provide the articles enumerated in Art. 1, ing and 
Chap. XIII. of the By-Laws according to their discre- '^'0"^''>- 
tion as to form and style of execution, as also to provide 
all postage-stamps, envelopes, paper, and all other articles 
of stationery used by the Society or any of its officers, 
and, except as otherwise ordered, to make and control 
all contracts for printing tlie Society's publications and 
for procuring the materials therefor ; with the power to 



32 

employ such agents and establish such regulations in 
respect to the use of said articles as they may deem pru- 
dent and for the interest of the Society, — said commit- 
tee from time to time making requisition on the Council 
for the money needed for said purposes, and duly ac- 
counting to the Treasurer for the expenditure of the 
same ; and to have the charge and custody of all the 
stationery of the Society, and of all materials purchased 
by them or their order ; also of all engravings on steel, 
copper, or wood, and all lithographic stones and photo- 
graphic plates or negatives belonging to the Society, — 
of which they shall cause to be made a perfect inventory, 
— and shall also cause them to be properly arranged 
and stored in a convenient receptacle, under lock and 
key, and shall not suffer them to pass out of their cus- 
tody, or the custody of some person or persons specially 
authorized by them or by the Council ; and except in the 
case of stationery to be used for the purposes of the 
Society, shall cause a permit to be duly entered for the 
taking or loan of each article, with name and date, in a 
book to be kept for that purpose, and a written receipt 
taken for such article and kept on file until the same is 
returned ; said Committee also to have exclusive au- 
thority in relation to the binding of all manuscripts, 
books, pamphlets, and other matter, whether published 
by or belonging to the Society. 
Record I will add that, seeing the obvious necessity of making 

seasonable preparation for recording the proceedings of 
the Society and the doings of the Council, I took the 
responsibility of requesting the Recording Secretary to 
order new books of record uniform in size with those 
heretofore used, and at the same time gave orders for 
books of similar shape and binding for the Treasurer. 
There are many blank forms to be prepared, and station- 
ery to be procured, which will be required for immediate 
use; and the adoption of measures to this end ought not 
to be delayed. 



books 

already 

ordered. 



33 

I believe I have now brought to your attention all 
matters of pressing moment, and have asked your action 
upon the choice of all officers and agents specially men- 
tioned in our By-Laws. It must not be assumed, I think, 
that the Society has intended to change the methods or Former 
to dispense with the officers and committees heretofore ^omm^ttees 
employed under the old By-Laws, except in those cases continued, 
wherein such intention is clearly manifest, either in the 
report of the committee on the revision of the By-Laws or Committees 
in the Code itself. It will therefore devolve upon us to Publication, 
appoint a committee on Publication, a committee on Heraldry 

Memorials ; a committee on Heraldry ; a standing com- Library, 

•^ "^ Papers and 

mittee on the Library ; and a committee on Papers and Essays. 
Essays. 

These committees, in whole or in part, may be pro- Provisional 
posed and their respective functions defined by such for^p|p™s" 
committee or committees as you shall appoint. With ^"^ essays, 
regard to the last, however, I would recommend that, 
pending their appointment, you make some provisional 
arrangement for negotiating with the gentlemen who 
have been approached, by our late committee on Papers 
and Essays, to entertain and instruct us at future stated 
meetings. I have been informed that several gentlemen 
have been thought of for this purpose, some of whom 
have agreed to address us. One of these, Hon. Henry Essays 
Barnard, as I have learned to-day, has in preparation a offered, 
paper, which cannot fail to be very interesting, on the 
origin and history of the New England Primer. 

Other committees will be needed, I conceive, for carry- 
ing out our work methodically, thoroughly, and expedi- 
tiously. I suggest that a discreet distribution of duties Division of 
1 • I 11,1, labor among 

among several committees would be the best means of committees. 

effecting this work satisfactorily, and at the same time 

would afford us an opportunity for enlisting the services 

of a larger number of our members, and particularly of ^emE 

the younger men, who I am persuaded need onlv an to be em- 

. . *' ployed and 

invitation, to become eventually most active and valu- encouraged. 



34 



able agents in promoting the growth and increasing the 
usefulness of the Society. 

I would recommend that you appoint the following, 
besides the committees just enumerated and the special 
committees on the Library and Cabinet and the com- 
mittee to assist the Historiographer, which 1 have also 
proposed : — 



Other 
committees. 



1. A committee on the Society's House. 

2. ,, ,, Publications. 

3. ,, ,, the Society's Records. 

4. ,, ,, the sale and exchange of books, pam- 

phlets, and papers. 

5. ,, ,, the purchase of library furniture and 

the providing of shelves. 

6. ,, ,, to prepare and report to the Council 

rules for the use of the Library and 
Cabinet. 

7. ,, ,, the roll of members and the transfer of 

memberships, 

8. ,, ,, the extension of this house, or the 

erection of a new building. 

9. ,, ,, to extend the circulation of the Reg- 

ister. 



Finances of 
the Register 
how best 
managed. 



Committee 
to increase 
circulation 
of the 
Register. 



I embrace this opportunity to comment further on the 
publication of the Register in accordance with the prom- 
ise previously made. It seems to me that the financial 
affairs of this publication should be managed solely by 
the Committee on Printing and Stationery, and the 
Treasurer. 

It will, of course, devolve upon that committee to 
revise the present list of subscribers and distributees, 
which, together with the management of the finances of 
all the publications, will be quite enough work for these 
gentlemen to perform. 

A systematic endeavor should be made to increase the 
circulation of the Register ; and this must be effected by 
the ordinary agencies usually employed for this purpose, 
including advertising, and regular, persistent, and ear- 



nest solicitation. It would seem, therefore, desirable that 

a standing committee be appointed to take charge of this 

business exclusively, and to incur such expense therein 

as the Council may authorize, by appropriation, upon a 

report by this committee of the amount that they may 

deem needful for the purpose. 

The charge of sending out our publications should be One person 

1 1111 • 1 i. to send out 

intrusted to some one person, who should be required to publications 

keep exact entries of the names and directions of the 
distributees, and of the kind of publication sent, and of 
the date and manner of delivery. Of this work, which 
is chiefly manual, the Editor should be relieved, so that 
he will have nothing to divert him from his strictly edi- 
torial pursuits. When any publication to be distributed —to pay 
is irregular, and to be paid for by the taker, the distrib- to the 
uter should keep an exact list of sales, and promptly treasurer, 
return the money received by him to the Treasurer, or 
to such persons as the Treasurer may designate. 

At the last stated meeting of the Society a special Committee 

. . on Town 

committee was provided for, to represent this bociety in Eecords. 
a movement looking to the printing of town records by 
the several towns, the duty of appointing which I think 
devolves upon the Council ; I recommend that you act 
upon this matter to-day. 

On the subject of the formation of the committees I 
have enumerated and of defining their several functions, 
I will not now dwell, but I will cheerfully communicate President 
my views thereon, at length, at a future meeting of the ^' '"^ ° 



Council, or to any committee that you may choose to ^'^"'^ '^ 



explain his 
views to 
Council or 
intrust with the duty of considering whether any action a committee. 

thereon is desirable, and, if so, what that action shall 

be. 

I have purposely deferred all reference to another very Committee 

important committee which has not hitherto come in the K^eseafclT: 

regular order of appointments. I refer to the Committee 

on English Research, under whose auspices Mr. Waters 

has done very valuable service for American genealogy. 



36 

and has thrown new light on the transatlantic origin of 
the peculiar people who have had such a remarkable 
career on this new continent, and to whom the atten- 
tion of the wisest men of the Old World is being directed 
with an interest more profound and general than ever 
before. 

— continu- This committee is now fully adopted as a part of the 

ance recom- , . _ <-. • t -n t ,• 

mended. machinery of our bociety, and wdl, I predict, engage 

more of our pride and interest in future. I recommend 

that it be continued as it is at present constituted. 

This covers all that I have to offer to-day, and far more 

than I at first intended. I have been led to be more 

full and particular from the conviction, which has grown 

upon me, that some of those of you who, though long 

enough members of this Society, have had but slight 

acquaintance with its interior workings would feel the 

need of all the information I could impart, and would 

not expect me to assume that they were ready to act 

understandingly on some of the intricate matters which 

I have endeavored to explain to you, without a pretty 

thorough exhibition of our past career, our general aims, 

and the reason for the changes that have been proposed. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



013 995 065 3 4 



